10 questions to Charlie Patino

10 questions to Charlie Patino

picture: Twitter/@CharliePatino10

Charlie Patino

date of birth: 17/11/2003 (16 years old)

club: Arsenal

position: defensive midfielder, central midfielder

Your favorite position on the pitch:

My favourite position on the pitch is Central Midfield, more of a creative midfielder (8). I can also play deeper starting the play from the back, as a 4 or 6, dictating the tempo of the game and building the attack.

What is your main strength:

I believe my main strengths are reading the game, knowing what is going on all around me, my vision, and my passing forward breaking lines.

What is your main weakness:

I wouldn’t call it a weakness as such, but I think at the moment my ‘Areas of Improvement’ tend to be more on the physical side. I’m only 16 and having generally played against older age groups improving my body strength is something I’m working on and will continue to focus on once we’re back to full training. It’s also something that will improve naturally over time with growth.

The midfield role can be very challenging physically, but there are other attributes a midfielder needs to have in that position – intelligence, technically & tactically aware, etc, etc. The two best midfielders in the world were never physically superior, they knew how to use other ‘Tools’ to dominate the midfield for Barcelona.

Your favorite Arsenal player:

My favourite current Arsenal player is Dani Ceballos – similar position to me, so he’s an Arsenal player I watch and analyse regularly. Past players that played when I was younger would include Cazorla, Fabregas, Arteta, Wilshere etc.

Your favorite all-time player:

My favourite player of all time is Andres Iniesta. When he was at Barcelona I used to spend hours watching him play.

The best U-21 player in world football:

I would say at the moment it’s probably João Félix at Atlético Madrid.

The best player you have played with:

I’ve played with many outstanding players like Jamal Musiala, Karamoko Dembele, Harvey Elliott, but if I was to choose one it would have to be my England teammate Jude Bellingham.

The best player you have played against:

Again, I’ve played against so many outstanding players, but if I was to choose one it would be Carlos Álvarez from Sevilla FC.

Your biggest football dream:

I have many footballing dreams, but the biggest I suppose is similar to every footballer; it would be to score the winning goal in the World Cup Final…..that would be the icing on the cake!!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years:

In 5 years’ time I’d like to be a regular for Arsenal’s First Team, playing week in, week out. However, 5 years is a long way away and I like to take each season step by step. My ambitions for next season are simple – to continue playing well, stay injury free, win the FA Youth Cup with the U18’s, feature for the U23’s at some stage in the season, continue to have opportunities to train with the First Team and continue to represent my country at U18’s level.